The morning flew by, but a little before lunch, while Donovan was still taking a morning nap, Katie told Marcail that now was as good a time as any to cut her hair. Katie was wearing her hair a little differently these days, and Marcail wanted the same style.
“I meant to ask you to cut my hair when I was home for Christmas, but now I’m glad I forgot. I want you to take about ten inches off the back, Katie, and I want my bangs just like yours.”
“You haven’t said anything, so I wondered if you liked the way mine looked.” Katie’s hand went to the dark thatch of hair that covered her forehead, stopping just above her brows.
“They’re darling. I want mine to be the exact length of yours.”
Nodding her agreement, Katie knew how easy that would be. She combed and parted Marcail’s hair in front, and for a time Marcail couldn’t see through the fall of hair covering her eyes. The mirror was handy, however, and as soon as Katie was finished, Marcail checked her work.
“Oh, Katie,” she exclaimed.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes!”
“I do too. I can get away with it because my face is round. And they’re darling on you because they bring out your beautiful eyes.”
Katie was behind Marcail now, brushing her hair straight. She was poised, scissors in hand and ready to cut, when Alex’s incredulous voice broke through the air.
“What are you doing?”
Katie froze. Her gaze, along with Marcail’s, flew to Alex. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, his face clearly showing his displeasure. Rigg stood just behind him, and over Alex’s shoulder he exchanged a look with his wife.
Just the night before Katie had been saying how she genuinely liked Alex, but she’d always believed Marcail needed someone with a firmer hand.
Rigg and Katie slipped quietly out of the room while Alex took a place at the kitchen table. He picked up a long strand of hair from Marcail’s lap and fingered it for a moment. She was still behaving as though she were a single woman. At some point he had to make her understand that he cared enough to be included in every part of her life.
“Why were you cutting your hair?” Alex’s question was simple, but it depicted just how complicated their relationship had become.
“Because of the headaches,” Marcail explained, still watching his face. She’d never seen him this angry before.
Alex had completely forgotten about her headaches and said as much. “I wish you had talked to me,” he added.
“I do too, now. But Katie knew I wanted it done and said she had time, so we just—” Marcail shrugged rather helplessly.
Alex reached and brushed his finger through her bangs. “I like the front.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you, Alex,” Marcail said softly.
“And I’m sorry I was angry.”
Alex reached for her face again, this time to brush his finger down her cheek.
“We’ll just keep at it, Marcail, until we get it right.”
The comment might have seemed cryptic to some, but Marcail caught his full meaning. She nodded ever so slightly, and for the first time in weeks Alex moved close and kissed her softly on the mouth.
fifty-three
The remainder of the days in Santa Rosa were spent in idle pursuits. Marcail’s family came to love Alex and approved of his tender care of Marcail. Sean and Charlotte had people they needed to visit, so some of their days were spent moving about, but Alex and Sean did get to have some time together, and got along famously.
The most memorable of their times together came on an afternoon when Alex and Sean ended up alone with the kids. All three of the women had gone shopping, and after the younger children were down for naps the men began to share. Alex was amazed to learn that Sean’s marriage to Charlotte had been forced.
“I didn’t even have the luxury of knowing her ahead of time. I saw her, and about ten minutes later, we were married.”
Sean went on to explain the entire story about his run-in with the law, and Alex simply stared at him in amazement. When he was through, the room was silent as Alex digested all he had heard.
“But you have made a marriage of it,” Alex finally commented, thinking how happy Sean and his wife seemed.
“Yes,” Sean told him. “It was not without its pain, but God never gave up on either of us. I love my wife deeply, and I know she loves me. I hope that gives you hope, Alex.”
“It does, Sean, thanks. I’ve made some mistakes, but it’s never too late.”
“You’re right; it’s not,” he agreed. “I’ll be praying for you both.”
Alex thanked him just before the older children appeared, claiming to be hungry. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with little ones and cleaning up their messes.
Marcail and Alex spent time alone together as well. They went for walks, took a boat out on the lagoon, and went out to supper a few times. Mostly, they talked. They cleared the air on many issues. Marcail explained that she had never meant to exclude Alex from her talk with Cordelia Duckworth. She also told him that it had been her lingering fear of doctors that had kept her from telling Alex of her bruises. She explained that her shock at the time had been so great, she had reacted without thought. She then admitted that, once better, the sin of pride reared its ugly head and kept her from approaching Alex sooner.
They talked about Marcail’s fear of being herself with Alex, and even though talking about it didn’t instantly right the situation, both husband and wife were relieved to have things out in the open. When Marcail asked Alex if he was working longer hours in order to avoid her, he confessed that he had been. For the first time a new understanding was growing between them.
The days flew, and both were surprised when it was time for Alex to leave for Willits. It seemed they had just arrived. Marcail was uncertain as to whether or not she should stay. As Alex packed she talked with him about it.
“Maybe I should come home with you.”
Alex was very pleased by her offer, but now that they were once again talking with each other, he had no problem with her staying.
“You still have a few friends you didn’t get to see,” Alex said, adding, “School begins in less than two months, and then who knows when you’ll get back here again.”
“That’s true,” Marcail answered, trying to be as logical as her spouse.
Nothing more was said on the subject, and when Alex was ready, Marcail walked him to the train station. All the nieces and nephews had hugged him goodbye at the house, each one having come to love Uncle Alex. The adults were just as warm in their send-off, and Katie had fixed a huge lunch for him to enjoy on the train.
Once at the station, husband and wife sat quietly waiting for the train to arrive. For a time, both were content to sit and watch the train station activity.
“You will come home to me, won’t you, Marc?”
Marcail turned her head as they sat on a bench by the ticket office and gave Alex a quizzical look. “Where else would I go?”
“You might not go anywhere. After I leave, you might find you like it better here and—”
“I’ll come home,” Marcail quietly cut him off. She’d never seen Alex look as hesitant before and found it rather heartbreaking.
“I think,” Marcail added, hoping she was not being overly bold, “that the bed will be lonely without you.”
Alex wished he could take her in his arms, and his eyes told her as much. “My bed at home is lonely without you too.”
Marcail nodded, finding she was unembarrassed for the first time. Nothing more was said since the train was now coming into the station. Alex stood and pulled Marcail around to the quiet side of the ticket office. Without warning, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her as he’d done on the beach in Fort Bragg.
When Alex was finally on board, Marcail stood on the platform and watched the train as it eased out of sight. She found herself wishing she’d followed her heart. If she had, she would have been on the train with
her husband.
Marcail closed the book she had been reading to Donovan; he was sound asleep. She knew she could carry him upstairs, but she rather enjoyed the feel of his warm little body snuggled against her own.
Rigg and Katie had gone out for the evening, and when his father had not been there to put him to bed, Donovan dissolved into tears. Both girls had gone to bed without a qualm, so Marcail took Donovan to the living room for a story.
Sean and Charlotte had left the day before for Visalia, to spend some time with Patrick, Duncan, Lora, Sadie, and the church family there. The house was very quiet. Marcail thought she could sit there for hours, holding her nephew and praying.
She ended her prayers by praying for Alex. Marcail couldn’t believe how much she missed him. She was scheduled to leave in two days, and the idea of going early was tempting. Since two weeks was barely enough time to exchange mail, they had not tried to communicate, but he had been in her thoughts almost constantly.
After Alex left, Marcail thanked Rigg for his words to her. They had made her stop and think of all she was wasting by distancing herself from a man who obviously cared deeply for her. Marcail was not ready to go home and throw herself into Alex’s embrace, but she was ready to go home and be herself.
Alex had proved that he was not going to reject her, and Marcail had finally figured out that this had been her deepest worry. There was nothing she had done to cause the death of her mother, or the way her father and then her brother had suddenly exited her life. After each departure, however, she had mentally prepared herself to be a very good girl so they would want to come back.
When Marcail was still a teen, she had done this with God, but her heavenly Father, in His perfect love, showed her that His acceptance was all-encompassing. That wasn’t to say she could mindlessly sin and do as she pleased, but it did mean that full fellowship was just a prayer away. Marcail came to understand that God would never cast her aside. Now she was learning that neither would Alex.
It seemed for a time that he had decided she was not worth his effort, but all that was put aside. He had only been taking his cue from her, and Marcail realized she’d been as much to blame as he had.
Marcail hefted Donovan into her arms and took him to bed at last. She stood over his crib for a moment, her mind once again on Alex and what the future of their marriage might be and then on the adorable boy in the crib. She couldn’t help but wonder if God would bless her marriage with love, and someday give them a little person like the one who’d fallen asleep in her arms tonight.
fifty-four
Alex stared at the howling infant in his hands, still not fully believing he had just delivered a baby. Mother and son were doing fine, and the father was still lying exactly where he’d fallen in a dead faint some ten minutes earlier.
The morning was taking on a feeling of reality. At 5:30 Alex had awakened to the sound of the bell. He was just coming out of the barn with Kelsey when a wagon came tearing up the road. Frank Nelson was the man at the reins, and he had been too frantic to even wait for Alex to come to the office.
Frank breathlessly insisted that his wife was dying. Alex had swiftly tied Kelsey’s reins to the back of the buckboard and climbed aboard. He held on while Frank drove to his farm, shouting the events of the past hours as they went.
It seemed his wife’s stomach had started to hurt some six hours ago and had slowly worsened. Frank was not too keen on doctors, and since the pains came and went, he had held off coming into town. But about 30 minutes ago, his wife had started to bellow.
Frank shouted to Alex over the sound of the horse’s hooves, telling him about the time he’d accidently driven a pickax right through her foot without her so much as making a sound. But after five minutes of her bellowing, he could take it no longer, certain that she was about to die.
It was fully light by the time they reached the house, but Alex would have had no trouble finding it in the dark. He’d have been led by the horrendous cries of the woman within.
Alex entered the house alone and followed the noise to the bedroom. On the bed he found an extremely overweight woman. She gasped for breath as he entered the room and tried to speak.
“I’m Dr. Montgomery, Mrs. Nelson. Can you tell me exactly what’s wrong?”
Mrs. Nelson began to do so, crying about her stomach and the fact that she was dying—but before she could finish, she was suddenly gripped with another pain. Alex stood by the bed and watched as she cried out and writhed in agony. He then bent and placed his hand on her enormous stomach.
“Mrs. Nelson,” Alex spoke when the worst of the pain had passed. “The pains you’re having are not going to kill you. They’re perfectly normal; you’re having a baby.”
A loud crash sounded behind Alex, and he turned to see that Mr. Nelson had come into the room behind him. The big man had hit the floor with an awful thud, but from a distance seemed unhurt. Alex would have checked on him, but Mrs. Nelson’s next contraction hit.
“Would you like my assistance?” Alex shouted above her wailing. He went to work after witnessing the frenzied nodding of her head.
Ten minutes later he held a healthy baby boy up for his mother’s inspection. Her cries this time were cries of joy, and after Alex had wrapped the baby in a shirt he found on a chair, he placed the tiny scrap of life into its mother’s arms.
Mr. Nelson was coming around, and after Alex had a quick wash in the basin, he helped him onto a chair. The man seemed stunned, and Alex knew just how he felt. Some minutes passed before Mr. Nelson moved from his chair to sit on the edge of the bed. It became evident in the next few seconds that there was real love between this hardworking couple as they first stared at their tiny son and then at one another.
“Twenty-three years,” Alex heard him say, his voice full of wonder. “Twenty-three years we go childless, and now in the space of a few minutes—” Frank suddenly chuckled. “I thought you were dying, Emmaline.”
His wife laughed along. “I thought so too.”
Mr. Nelson sobered suddenly. “Even if there hadn’t been a baby, Em, I’m still glad you’re here.”
Alex exited the bedroom on this tender note. He waited in the kitchen for about five minutes, and then Frank called him back in. Alex was profoundly moved at the humble way they thanked him for the life of their son and then asked his fee for the delivery.
He left with the $5.00 in his pocket and a promise from them that they would bring the baby to his office in a week’s time. Alex went back home to clean up and head to the office. Marcail was due in that very afternoon. Alex, anticipating her return, had believed the time would drag, but if it continued as it had begun, he had a feeling the day would fly.
Marcail stepped off the train and found a fair crowd of people milling about the platform. She stood still and waited for the throng to clear, and then spotted Alex leaning against the side of the ticket office. His stance was nonchalant, belying the thunderous beating of his heart at the mere sight of his wife. She had an extra suitcase with her, and Alex was pleased that she’d brought some extra dresses back as he’d asked.
Alex pushed away from the side of the building and met her halfway. Wanting to crush her in his arms, he immediately reached for her bags, thankful for something to do with his hands.
“Welcome home,” he spoke sincerely.
“Thank you.” Marcail smiled at him and bit her lip. He looked wonderful, and as she took in his white shirt, dark hair, and gorgeous blue eyes, Marcail wanted to hug and kiss him for the first time.
Alex led the way as they walked from the train station platform. Marcail looked for Kelsey as they moved, but didn’t immediately spot him. She also missed the way Alex turned to watch her once she sighted the horse.
“Where did you get this?” Marcail questioned Alex when her surprised visage took in the small black buggy to which Kelsey was hitched.
“A patient who hasn’t paid me in the last year gave it to us. When he saw me at church alone for two Sundays, h
e thought you’d grown tired of riding on the back of a horse and left me.”
Marcail laughed with a mixture of astonishment and pleasure. “Maybe I should go away more often,” she teased with exaggerated innocence, as Alex’s hands took possession of her waist to swing her aboard the buggy.
“You’re not going anywhere for a long time,” he growled good-naturedly, with a hint of ownership.
Hearing that tone, Marcail’s smile was one of pure contentment as she settled back against the well-padded buggy seat.
Marcail took the next few days to resettle. She cleaned the entire house and spent one day baking, all the while thoroughly loving the feel of being home.
Seth and Allie had eloped while Marcail was away, and this news was all over town. The newlyweds were living in a place near the train station, and Marcail went to see them on her fifth day home. Since her own marriage was becoming more precious every day, Marcail was no longer envious of the happiness she saw in her friend’s eyes.
Alex had not pressed her to move from her sofa bed into the bedroom, but even though she’d only been home a few days, he was more attentive and their communication was stronger than it had ever been.
They fell easily back into their routine. Some mornings she was asleep when Alex left for work; others she was up and preparing breakfast. The Monday morning of her second week back was just such a morning. Marcail was up early and had breakfast started, but her face was pensive when Alex entered the kitchen.
Alex showed his pleasure at seeing her by planting a kiss on her cheek. She never stiffened at his touch now, and Alex always felt a bit lightheaded at the lovely smiles she gave him. This morning, however, her smile was somewhat preoccupied.